Improve your Communication Skills- 8 tips.

Communication is key; people who have strong communication skills will almost always succeed in life and work. As we are a social species effective communication is one of the most important skills we can learn. Obviously no one intends to be a poor communicator but the fact of the matter is, many of us are. If you’re in the poor communication category, don’t despair, there is hope for you. Below we run through some simple communication tips that you can implement to improve your skills. Have a read and see which ones will work best for you.

1. Listen

We’ve recommended you improve your listening skills before and one of the most important parts of communicating is listening. You need to listen to what the other person is saying in order for you to empathise with them and then effectively communicate. Let the other person talk without interrupting, really listen to what they are saying.

2. Remove the filler words

Those annoying little filler words do absolutely nothing to improve your everyday communication skills, drop them. The fillers are words like: um, uh and ah, and they won’t help you. Instead you should practice removing them from your speech and you will sound more convincing and more persuasive. There’s a simple remedy you can try to prevent these types of words from popping up in your everyday speech. If you feel the urge to say um, take a breath or pause for a second. The more you practice the more natural this will feel.

3. Pay attention to your body language

Body language is a part of what’s called nonverbal communication, this means you’re sending messages to the other person without saying a word. If you mouth says something, but your body says differently you’re going to find your communication suffers. If you say you’re listening, but your eyes are glued to the screen, or you’re open to discussion but your arms are folded, you’re sending the opposite message. Pay attention to your posture and what your body is saying. Also learn to read the other person’s body language so you can understand what they’re saying to you without words.

4. Eye contact

But not too much. When you’re speaking with someone, make sure you have consistent eye contact. If you’re unable to look someone in the eye, people might think you’re trying to deceive them, are shy or are uninterested. Remember though, it’s not a staring contest so you don’t have to stare the other person into submission. Show the other person you’re interested in what they’re saying by looking them in the eye. As an aside, maintaining eye contact is a good way to keep you focused and reduce the chance of being distracted.

5. Show respect

This is a bit of a broad category with lots of different facets but they all boil down to showing respect. When communicating with others it’s important to treat everyone equally, avoid patronizing people and act professionally in the workplace. This means you shouldn’t talk over other people, and you should also try to endeavor that your message is received clearly and people understand you. Respecting the other person in a conversation is a great way to improve your communication skills.

6. Ask questions

If you ever find yourself in a situation where communication is necessary but akin to drawing blood from a stone, you should consider asking questions. Ask questions about the other person, what they do, which famous person would they like to have for dinner and what would they cook, if you engage them and get them to talk about themselves you’ll probably find the conversation flows smoothly. There’s an added bonus here, asking questions about the other person will also keep you engaged, which is hugely important for successful communication.

7. Be articulate

Being articulate can be difficult, especially if you’re communicating in a foreign language, but you can improve your English speaking confidence and how well you speak the language. When communicating make sure you speak clearly and avoid mumbling. If you’re a low talker people will inevitably have to ask you to repeat yourself. A great way to articulate yourself better is to slow yourself down, don’t try to cram too many words in and pay attention to each syllable.

8. Check your vocabulary

This is a big one. Apart from mumbling your way through a social interaction, a big communications error you can make is to use a word incorrectly. The fastest way to ensure people will judge you as incompetent is to use a word incorrectly. The best advice is: if you’re unsure about a word, e.g. how to use it, what it means etc., don’t use it. There is a way to solve this, if you would like to improve your vocabulary, there are plenty of resources out there, the more you read, the more you’ll learn. Expose yourself to as many words as possible and you’ll find your vocab increasing. But you should always endeavor to keep the way you speak clean and simple, flowery language might confuse people.

So that’s it, hopefully these little tips will improve your communications skills. Remember, keep it simple and try to be direct. And keep checking ever jobs for more great career advice and the latest job listings.